


'cause we're connected

by killerqueenwrites (KillainsTales)



Series: tony loves his kids [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Harley Keener is a Good Bro, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), TONY LOVES HIS KIDS, happy needs a raise, harley and peter are brothers now, i would die for morgan stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-18 12:18:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18699466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KillainsTales/pseuds/killerqueenwrites
Summary: Endgame spoilers! Full summary inside.





	'cause we're connected

**Author's Note:**

> It's Harley's turn to get his message. Everyone deals with grief differently.
> 
>  
> 
> okay, i swear this is the last one where i accept tony's death! from now on, i'm living in denial. thanks to Prixdarkheart, who suggested doing harley's video in the comments of 'message'. this is a direct follow-on to that one-shot, so i'd suggest reading it first. enjoy!

Peter Parker. Harley never thought he’d meet him, thought he’d always exist in Tony’s bedtime stories for Morgan and nowhere else. It’s strange, kind of jarring, to see the boy he knows almost entirely from pictures moving around in front of him.

 

“I’ll, um, let you watch the thing.” Peter smiles, but it’s wobbly at best. Harley feels bad about walking in on him crying. “Meet you outside?”

 

“Sounds good.”

 

Peter sniffs and walks out, his shoulders hunched.

 

He’s so _young_.

 

Harley had known; there were nights, so many that they’ve all blurred together, when Tony had called him or Harley had sat awake with him on the couch while Pepper slept. Nights when Tony could barely breathe through grief and panic, gasping out, “He was just a kid,” and, “I can’t let another kid down, I _can’t_ , I can’t lose them.”

 

By rights, they should be the same age, give or take a year, but that was before Thanos crashed through their lives and shattered part of Tony into tiny pieces.

 

Yeah, Harley had known, pieced together some bits and assumed the rest, but seeing Peter with bags under his eyes and tears drying on his cheeks drives home just how _young_ he is.

 

“Okay, FRIDAY? What do I need to do?”

 

_“The helmet is already in position. The file marked with your name is here.”_

 

The Iron Man helmet resting on the table blinks to life and Tony Stark appears, blue-tinted and translucent. _“Keener.”_

 

“Wait, wait, just…pause, FRIDAY.”

 

Tony freezes, his mouth half open.

 

Harley appraises him and folds his arms. He hadn’t seen Tony before the funeral – the last time had been a few weeks ago. They hadn’t let him see the body, but now he’s seen the Hulk’s arm, he’s met Peter Parker’s haunted gaze, and he thinks it might have been for the best. At least his last memory of Tony, one that isn’t a hologram, isn’t going to be as horrifying as Peter’s.

 

Still…

 

“Before we get into this,” he tells the frozen hologram, “before we get all weepy and shit or you tell me you love me, I just gotta say…dick move, man.”

 

Tony doesn’t move, so Harley continues.

 

“There was really no one else? It had to be you? Just you – you’re just a fucking mechanic. You don’t – didn’t have powers, and you still put the glove on. For a smart guy, that was pretty freaking stupid. And you left us!” He can’t help his voice rising to a shout; he’s trembling with anger. “You left your whole fucking family – Pepper, Morgan, Rhodey, Happy, Peter, me. You left us, you _asshole_.

 

“How dare you? I thought you understood how shitty it is when fathers leave, what it’s like growing up without one. You’re really gonna put that on Morgan, on Peter?” He doesn’t dare include himself; he may have had years with Tony, but he’s never not going to feel a little bit like an outsider.

 

The hologram doesn’t respond, because it’s a fucking hologram, and Harley feels his rage boiling over for a split second, wrestles with the urge to hit something, before he collapses back on the couch, drained.

 

“Can’t believe you had the balls to make Peter Parker upset. Have you ever seen that kid cry? Because I just did, thanks to you, and I don’t know how that isn’t enough to guilt you back into living.

 

“But no, you had to go all ‘I am fucking Iron Man’. Self-sacrificing bastard.” Still no response. “Whatever, Play it, FRIDAY.”

 

Tony blinks. “ _You done being angry?”_

 

Harley scoffs. “Oh, fuck you.”

 

_“Yeah, I figure that, out of everyone, you’ll be the most pissed off about this. And that’s fine, that’s fair, that’s a perfectly normal reaction to have; everyone deals with grief differently. So, did I get it right? Don’t say I don’t know you, kid. Anyway, yeah: not to sound cliche but, if you’re watching this, I’m probably dead._

_“I say_ probably _because you are fully capable of hacking into my files, not to mention Peter’s friend…Ted? Uh, tangent, but assuming that you’re not being a little shit, I’m not there anymore._

 

_“I hope it works. God, I hope so. If you see this and Peter isn’t there…no. No, it’s going to work. I’m going to pull off the craziest shit known to man. I’m gonna bring him back. Any other outcome is…unacceptable. I hope to God you never have to see this, Harley, but if Pete’s back, I won’t mind. It’ll be worth it._

_“God, I’m just imagining what you two are gonna get up to. No corrupting Morgan, you hear me? She’s enough of a terror with just you around. Speaking of, I really gotta…thank you for being around for her. I know you have your own family, but you’ve got mine. For as long as you need them, for as long as you want them. You are family, Harley._

_“You weren’t just here for Morgan, either. You didn’t have to stay awake until ass o’clock with me all those nights, but you did, so…thank you. You’ve come a long way from freaking me out about New York, huh? God, sometimes I can’t believe how long ago that was, how long you’ve stuck around and dealt with my bullshit.”_

 

Except Harley never minded. It made him feel like he was something, like he mattered to someone outside his family; even better that the someone in question was Tony Stark. After years of wondering why he wasn’t good enough for his father, Tony had not only shown him that shitty dads could leave marks on anyone, but also given him his first experience of that sort of kindness, an almost fatherly fondness, since he was six years old.

 

 _“So, if I can ask another favour – kinda two, I guess – one: don’t stay pissed off for too long. I want you dramatically mourning my death, wailing, lamenting, crying how I’ll never be replaced, the whole nine yards.”_ Tony grins for a second before it falls and his expression turns serious again. _“No, seriously. I get you’re gonna be angry, and that’s fine, but don’t hold onto it forever. I don’t want my little girl growing up being told her dad’s a piece of shit for leaving her. Which brings me on to favour number two: look after Morgan for me. She’s not gonna understand, not at first. I wish I didn’t have to miss her growing up. I regret that already, not being there for her, but if this works…how can I regret pulling it off? How can I regret all my kids being safe and alive and together? Before you say anything, yes, that includes you, too._

_“Actually, three favours: look out for Peter? Maybe you’ll do a better job of it than I did. Maybe you won’t have any making up to do._

_“Can’t believe I’m actually giving Harley Keener responsibility. Are you sure you’re the same little asshole whose garage I broke into? We’ve come a long way from Tennessee, haven’t we? I’d say the world’s gone mad, but we both know it did that five years ago. For the record, I’m so damn proud of you. And yes – I can practically hear you rolling your eyes right now – I love you._

_“You’re gonna be fine, kid. Promise. Know how I know?”_ Tony tilts his head, a familiar shit-eating grin spreading across his face. _“‘Cause we’re connected.”_

 

“I hate you so much,” Harley whispers, but there’s a weird lump in his throat that takes the heat out of the words. He’s not going to cry, he’s not.

 

 _“Okay, whatever you just said, I definitely deserved it. In all seriousness, Harley, I know we don’t do the mushy shit so well, but you’re my family – my kid – and I love you. Okay. Bye.”_ Tony leans over to the helmet and the hologram disappears.

 

Well, fuck.

 

Harley presses the back of his hand to his mouth and inhales shakily, biting back a sob as it threatens to tear out of his throat. He can hear people talking outside, but they’re conscious enough not to blunder in and interrupt him like he did to Peter.

 

It’s not fair. It’s not fucking _fair_ , and so what if he sounds like a kid? Why Tony? Why did it always have to be Tony?

 

He stands up, his next breath steadier, and stares out of the window. It’s calm outside, no trace of the battle that had levelled the land around the Compound. He can see why Tony loved it up here.

 

“Tony?”

 

The Iron Man helmet stares back at him with blank eyes.

 

“You don’t have to worry, okay? I’m gonna take care of them. We’re gonna be fine. I’d make a joke about how the universe doesn’t revolve around you, but, like, it kinda does. We’re all here because of you, all safe, and I’m gonna make sure we stay that way. The only thing you have to worry about is the cholesterol Morgan’s gonna develop from eating cheeseburgers.”

 

The murmur of voices outside gets louder. He really doesn’t want to get caught alone in the lounge talking to a helmet.

 

“Thank you, Tony, for letting me hang around for so long, especially after…you know. You were my family too, you know. And yeah, I…I love you too.” He reaches out and touches the mask – cold, lifeless. “Goodbye, Tony.”

 

* * *

 

When he steps onto the porch and sees Peter waiting for him by Happy’s car, his eyes are dry and the lump in his throat is gone. Pepper waves, calling, “Don’t be too long!”

 

“You want shotgun?” Peter offers. “Morgan wants me to sit next to her.”

 

“Sure.”

 

“Bus to McDonald’s on its way,” Happy mutters. “Told Boss I wasn’t a babysitter, and now look at me.”

 

“Harley, Harley!” Morgan yells happily. The mood of the day hasn’t affected her for too long; she probably doesn’t even understand fully what it means.

 

“What’s up, M?”

 

“Peter’s back!” she crows. “He came back!”

 

“He sure did.”

 

“Daddy said he might not be able to, even if he wanted to, but he did!”

 

“Your dad went and got him.” Harley twists around in his seat. “He knew that Peter really _really_ wanted to come back and see you.”

 

Peter looks dangerously close to crying again. Happy isn’t too far behind.

 

Morgan goes quiet. “Does that mean that Daddy can’t come back?”

 

“Yeah,” Harley says gently, “but I know he wishes he could. You know he loves you a lot.”

 

“Yeah.” She brightens up again. “He loves me three thousand!”

 

“Three thousand, huh?” Peter says. “That’s loads.”

 

“He loves you three thousand as well,” Morgan tells him.

 

“Wow,” Peter whispers. “And what about Harley? Does he love Harley three thousand?”

 

“Mmm…no, he always said Harley was a little shit-“

 

Peter yelps, Harley roars with laughter and Happy nearly crashes the car.

 

_“Take care, Mr Hogan-“_

 

“Shut up, FRIDAY.” Happy stares Morgan out in his rear view mirror. “Who taught you words like that?”

 

“Daddy.”

 

“Right, of course he did. You can’t say shi– uh, _stuff_ like that, okay? Goes for you two as well, got it?”

 

Harley meets Peter’s gaze over his shoulder and grins at the mischief he finds there. Maybe they’ll be okay. Maybe something can be salvaged from this shitshow.

 

“You got it, Uncle Happy,” Peter says, all wide-eyed innocence.

 

How the hell did Tony ever yell at him without feeling like he was kicking a puppy?

 

“What? No.” Happy’s glare moves to Peter. “I already told you we ain’t doing that.”

 

Harley tilts his head, doing his best to imitate Peter. “Doing what, Uncle Happy?”

 

“Oh my God,” Happy mumbles to himself with the air of a man becoming ever so slightly unhinged. “Oh my God, there’s three of them, three fucking mini Tony Starks. Oh God, why do I have to deal with three of them?”

 

“Tony said we’re gonna save the world!” Harley says cheerfully. “You’re just gonna have to put up with our crap until then.”

 

“Language!”

 

“Happy, you missed the turn!”

 

“Fuck!”

 

“Happy!” Peter squeaks, his hands jumping to cover Morgan’s ears. “She’s four!”

 

By the time Happy jerks the wheel and swings around, heading back towards the McDonald’s. Harley is laughing so hard his stomach hurts.

 

It’s a good pain, almost enough to drown out the empty void in his chest. Behind him, Morgan’s delighted squeals are mingling with Peter’s half-embarrassed laughter.

 

“You _can’t_ cover my ears!”

 

“I can and I will, especially when people are swearing.”

 

“I wanna _hear_!”

 

They’re not okay, not by a long shot, but they will be. If this is their new normal, they might get through everything else.

 

Yeah, Harley decides, catching Peter’s gaze again, they’ll be fine.

**Author's Note:**

> this week on ciara can't write endings. in other news, i now have a bad things happen bingo card in my possession, so...
> 
> i'm on tumblr @akillerqueenwrites, or my main blog @akillerqueenyouare. come say hi, ask questions, leave prompts or just yell at me.


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